The present invention is novel compounds which are 2-substituted-4,6-di-tertiary-butyl-5-hydroxy-1,3-pyrimidines and pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition or base salts thereof, pharmaceutical compositions and methods of use therefor. The invention compounds are now found to have activity as inhibitors of 5-lipoxygenase and/or cyclooxygenase providing treatment of conditions advantageously affected by such inhibition including, for example, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, other inflammatory conditions, pain, fever, psoriasis, allergic diseases, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, GI ulcers, cardiovascular conditions including ischemic heart disease and atherosclerosis, and ischemia-induced cell damage, particularly brain damage caused by stroke. They can also be used topically for treating acne, sunburn, psoriasis, and eczema. Also included are leukotriene mediated pulmonary, gastrointestinal, inflammatory, dermatological, and cardiovascular conditions. The disclosed compounds also have potential utility as antioxidants. However, overall the preferable use is to treat inflammatory conditions. Thus, the present invention is also a pharmaceutical composition or method of manufacturing a pharmaceutical composition for the use of treating the noted conditions.
3,5-Di-tertiary-butyl-4-hydroxybenzene, substituted by 1,2,4- and 1,3,4-thiadiazoles and oxadiazoles, and 1,2,4-triazoles are known to provide activity as inhibitors of 5-lipoxygenase and/or cyclooxygenase. See 3815-P1. Pyrimidine is not noted in this reference. Structure activity relationships of certain ditertiarybutyl phenols and homologs thereof are discussed by Lazer, E.S., et al in "Effect of Structure on Potency and Selectivity in 2,6-Disubstituted 4-(2-Arylethenyl)-phenol Lipoxygenase Inhibitors, J. Med. Chem. 1990, 33, 1982-1998. Again pyrimidines are not noted in this reference and so compounds therein differ from the present invention.
Numerous references disclose 2-amino-5-hydroxy pyrimidines. Compounds having N containing groups in place of the amino are also disclosed, however, in each such compounds attachment is through the N. Such disclosed pyrimidines may also be substituted at the 4- and/or 6-positions with various groups including alkyls. No reference shows a tertiarybutyl in both the 4- and 6-positions in combination with a 5-hydroxy together with a group other than the N or S containing substituent in the 2-position as found in the present invention. For example, UK patent application number 2045736 and the Bioch. J. 1951, 48, p. 400 shows the simple 2-amino-5-hydroxy-4,6-dimethylpyrimidine. Other substituted 2-aminopyridines are shown in European Patent Application Numbers 89312736.5 and 86305466.4 (equivalent to U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,888), European Publication Numbers 319170, 233416, 1642 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,859,679 and 4,940,712.
Japanese Application No. 1,216,978 discloses 2-arylpyrimidines but differs from the present invention, that requires the 4,6-di-tertiary-butyl-5-hydroxy substituents.
The difficulty of accommodating steric hindrance in the synthesis of 4,6-tertiarybutyl pyrimidine is documented in J.C.S. Perkin I (1976) 1202-4. No `5-OH` is considered in this synthesis. Further, although French application No. 1,476,534 presents a generic scope including various 2-substituted pyrimidines, this French application differs from the present invention by failing to provide the present invention substituent combinations.
The disclosures in Chem. Ber. (1960) pp. 1998-2001 and in the Indian Journal of Chemistry, Vol. 24B, May 1985, pp. 535-538 showing oxazole to pyrimidine ring transformations and the disclosure in Chemical Reviews (1975), Vol. 75, No. 4, pp. 207 and 412 showing a preparation of an oxazole and subsequent transformation to pyrimidine all show a synthesis and product having substituents in the 4- and 6-positions offering little or no steric hindrance contrary to the present invention which contains 4,6-ditertiarybutyl together with a 5-hydroxy substituent.
In summary, the references of record show neither the present 2-substituent nor combinations of 4 and 6 substituents with a 5-hydroxy group and particularly combinations in which the 4 and 6 substituents are ditertiarybutyl groups which provide steric hindrance not previously present during synthesis of pyrimidines.